<p>Next year I am going to become a senior at my highschool. My weighted gpa is 4.04 and I was wondering what my chances were to get accepted to a good uc such as ucd and ucsb considering that I am a first generation Hispanic. Also can someone PLEASE tell me to what extent does being a miniority play into college admissions in California in general. Any response will be highly appreciated</p>
<p>Affirmative Action is not allowed in california (CA Proposition 209). Do you live in California if not can you afford to pay full tuition for either school? What is your UW GPA, SAT, ACT, Extracurricular activities, etc.</p>
<p>Davis:
<a href=“http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses/davis/freshman-profile/index.html”>http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses/davis/freshman-profile/index.html</a>
<a href=“http://admissions.ucdavis.edu/profile/”>http://admissions.ucdavis.edu/profile/</a></p>
<p>Santa Barbara
<a href=“http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses/santa-barbara/freshman-profile/index.html”>http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses/santa-barbara/freshman-profile/index.html</a>
<a href=“http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses/files/freshman-profiles/freshman_profile_santa_barbara.pdf”>http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses/files/freshman-profiles/freshman_profile_santa_barbara.pdf</a></p>
<p>I am a California resident. My uw gpa is a 3.6. I have not yet taken the sat but I am preparing tremendously for it. I have taken the PSAT and scored well. In addition the classes I am going to take senior year are rigorous( ap calculusBC ap physics2 ap gov./ecom ap comp sci. ). As far as ecc go I have played soccer I have been part of an engineering club at school and I had a part time job last year. The tuition to attend a uc is extremely exorbitant for my family and I plan on gathering scholarships next year.</p>
<p>Have you started looking for some outside scholarships as well? Have you looked at the possible requirements for scholarships offered by UCSB and USD?</p>
<p>You need to calculate your UC GPA, see link: <a href=“Cal State Apply | CSU”>Cal State Apply | CSU;
Average GPA for most of the UC’s (except UCSC/UCR/UCM) is a 4.0+ and about a 1900+ SAT score. What is your intended major?? This will affect your chances significantly especially for a STEM major where the criteria is higher than the averages. Check the UC Freshman profiles to see where you fall posted by @tola2015. UCD is known for pretty generous financial aid vs. some of the other UC’s and UCSB will put more emphasis on your essays than many of the others. Post your SAT score and UC GPA when you have them. Good Luck.</p>
<p>op- First look at the sticky thread at the top of this forum and read everything in it. There is lots of helpful information. </p>
<p>UC’s this past year were especially tough and more so at males wanting engineering or science majors. I had a good friend who’s son is Latino with GPA over 4.0 and SAT over 2000 who wanted to study engineering and he did not get into a single UC this past year. To assist you I suggest the following:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Calculate your estimated family contribution (EFC) or net price calculator for each UC (and frankly you should do this for every college you are applying to). The UC’s primarily give only financial aid so see if you qualify. If you do not qualify for an amount your family can afford then it will be tough because the UC’s only give very small merit awards and only to a small group of students. Outside scholarships if you win any are sometimes subtracted from the financial aid that your college awards you. Private scholarships usually are for small amount and only for one year- your best money source is the college itself. </p></li>
<li><p>Since you are first gen be sure to throughout research the website imfirst.org It is devoted to students like you. Colleges interested in attracting first gen URM’s are partner colleges so register on that website and look up the colleges list. Various great things that the colleges offer will be listed(diversity fly-ins; bridge programs; special scholarships etc.). Be sure to apply for the imfirst scholarship. Contact the UC’s and ask them if they have any special programs for first generation students. Some have AVID which may be one avenue for gaining admission. </p></li>
<li><p>The information given to you about affirmative action is not completely correct. Prop 209 does prevent consideration of race in college admissions but only at California publicly funded colleges (the UC’s and Cal States) NOT at private colleges in California. Right the graduation rates at California State schools especially the Cal-States are terrible so it might be best to look at private colleges. Sometimes a combination of financial aid and a merit award might make such schools cheaper than a state school. Sometimes that also applies to out of state public colleges. For example my DS just graduated from Ohio State (we are Cal residents like you) and he went on a full merit ride. His grades were not as good as yours. He received 3 merit awards that he was able to stack for a full ride. Not only could he have graduated in 3 years (they took a year’s worth of AP credits) but he had no loans. </p></li>
<li><p>Apply to special programs for first generation students. Many of their apps are due soon so make sure to not blow those deadlines. Some are Questbridge; Gates Millenium Scholars and the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>If you don’t understand any term I used in my post then search for it here on collegeconfidential or google it. You will get the information that way. But again be sure to read the sticky thread on the top. It has a ton of good information. </p>
<p>Good Luck. </p>
<p>I deleted point #4 because it referenced a commercial site that, as far as I could tell, wasn’t really functioning anyway, at least not in a meaningful way. But it is against the CC terms of service to reference such sites.</p>
<p>Here is the diversity fly-in list from getmetocollege. <a href=“2014 Diversity College Weekends: Free Fall Visits for Rising Seniors | Get Me To College”>http://getmetocollege.org/hs/2014-diversity-college-weekends-free-fall-visits-for-rising-seniors</a> Since you have good grades and are first generation I would look at the diversity fly-ins offered for California colleges. Occidental and Pitzer are good programs and would give you a chance to look and/or interview at those schools</p>
<p>Also there is a big change this year for the UC’s. This year they are releasing the application on Aug. 1 instead of Nov. 1 so you can start working on it now. For some reason the UC’s did not move up the time you can actually submit the application and it still remains Nov. 1 but trust me get a jump on it and complete it when it gets released. Good luck. </p>
<p>Thank you so much itsv for taking your time to provide me with plenty helpful information. It means a lot.</p>